Careful Words

coy (n.)

coy (v.)

coy (adj.)

O woman! in our hours of ease

Uncertain, coy, and hard to please,

And variable as the shade

By the light quivering aspen made;

When pain and anguish wring the brow,

A ministering angel thou!

Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832): Marmion. Canto vi. Stanza 30.

Her air, her manners, all who saw admir'd;

Courteous though coy, and gentle though retir'd;

The joy of youth and health her eyes display'd,

And ease of heart her every look convey'd.

George Crabbe (1754-1832): The Parish Register. Part ii. Marriages.

Implied

Subjection, but requir'd with gentle sway,

And by her yielded, by him best receiv'd,—

Yielded with coy submission, modest pride,

And sweet, reluctant, amorous delay.

John Milton (1608-1674): Paradise Lost. Book iv. Line 307.